Author

Campus Location

Date of Award

Department

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Kyeonghee Jang

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Thomas L. Winter

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Kari White

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to examine the moderating effect of social support on the impact of loneliness on anxiety and depression in long-term care residents in nursing homes. Recent research suggests that a relationship exists between loneliness and rates of depression and anxiety in long-term care nursing home residents. The present study seeks to examine the buffering effect of social support and utilize the findings to provide suggestions for policy, practice, and research. A binary logistic regression and a series of multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine the relationships between the variables. The present study’s sample consists of 12 long-term care nursing home residents from a nursing home in West Texas. Due to the small sample size, there were few statistically significant findings in the present study. Some of these findings did not align with the findings in recent research, such as the finding that loneliness and depression did not have a statistically significant correlation. However, loneliness did have a statistically significant relationship with anxiety in the present study. Social support was not found to have a moderating effect on the impact of loneliness on depression or anxiety. The implications of the findings for policy and practice would be to place more emphasis on the impact of loneliness on anxiety, as well as to standardize the utilization of anxiety testing in nursing home settings. Further research is needed to explore the buffering effect of social support on the mental health of long-term care nursing home residents.

Creative Commons License

Recommended Citation

Stivers, Lindsay Nicole, "The Moderating Effect of Social Support on the Impact of Perceived Loneliness on the Mental Health of Long-Term Care Nursing Home Residents" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 226.https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/226

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